A 40-year-old man who was arrested on drug related offences, has filed a judicial protest claiming a breach of his rights sincer his arrest was carried out based solely on a statement he gave to the police without the presence of a lawyer.
Back in 2004, Trevor Bonnici was arrested for suspected involvement in drug related offences.
The judicial protest noted that he was arrested and found guilty by the court based 'uniquely and purely' on the statement he presented in front of the police without the presence of a defence lawyer.
It referred to Mario Borg's case which appeared in front of the European Court for Human Rights earlier this month. In Borg's case, the ECHR ruled that legal assistance should be provided from the initial stages of investigations, with the exception of extraordinary circumstances. Further to this, the ECHR ruled that the rights of the suspect were not respected when he made a statement without consulting a lawyer, and which could therefore incriminate him.
The judicial protest claims that, since he is already serving his prison sentence, Bonnici's right of freedom was breached.
"Every day the accused spends in prison, is another day in which the Maltese State is ignoring a sentence handed by the European Court of Human Rights", the protest notes.
The defence is requesting the immediate release of the convicted.
The judicial protest was filed by lawyers Jason Azzopardi and Kris Busietta.
from The Malta Independent http://ift.tt/1Um4Ke2
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